A Fairy's tale
by Grimmsistr
Summary: About the fate of two Young girls. One new to Oncer fans, the other known (Regina). About the Wickedness of a Witch. A good Fairy's strange exchange with an odd Golden Man. And about the choices mothers make.
1. Chapters 1 and 2

These are the two first chapters of a 10 chapter long story that I have almost finished writing. This is a test upload. It's the first time I am trying to upload stories here.

It's a story based on the tv show **Once Upon a Time** but a few of the characters in this story are not currently featured on the actual show.

This Fairytale is about the fate of two young girls. A strange exchange. Witches, Fairies and an odd golden Man.

Chapter 1:

Somewhere Over the Wild Waters.

In a land called Oz, there Once lived a Wicked fairyWoman, her name was Mombi. This is not her story but the story starts with why she came to be the guardian of a little human girl.

A beautiful little baby girl. with red hair, marble white skin and eyes as blue as the summer skies. This little baby girl, where did she come from? she was not Mombis own child. The baby was brought to her by another fairy from a land beyond the wild river that boarders the land of Oz.

Mombi was old so old she was as wrinkled as the bark on the oak brances. She lived in a small house made from oak wood, so if you happened to one day pass by as she was sitting on her porch you might not have even been apple to tell the woman apart from the house. But the fairy knew where to look fairies always knows.

So that day, many years ago a fairy brought the little baby girl too Mombi. "Take care of her" the fairy said "Give her a name, treat her like she was your own Dear Mombi and you will be rewarded. You see- This girl is a princess from a nother land and one day she shall travel back to her land beyond the wild waters, you must tell her that.. And tell her- Her halfsister by her father will lay claim to the throne and be Queen of that land, but the throne rightfully belongs to our little princess here. I will return on the girls 15th birthday and see how she is and to tell her how she shall return to her rightfull place"

Mombi was not the mothering kind, but she took the little girl in and brought her up the only way she knew, she did her best, wich was not a lot. Certainly her motivation to take care of the girl was not out of love, but for the prospect of that reward the fairy had talked about, that promise had laid claim on Mombis wicked mind and she sat each day on her small wooden porch wrenching her hands thinking of the gold and treasures this bothersome child-care business would earn her.

Chapter 2:

Where the little Princess came from

The fairy had travelled far to get the baby to Mombi, but she knew that Mombi was Fates choice for the baby. It was not the fairy's choice, she only did Fates biding. It was for the best. The only way everything would fall into its rightfull place- she told herself that everyday. The fairy did not feel good about what needed to be done, so many innocent humans had been and would be victims of this.

But if Fate didn't happen everything would be chaos. She could not just let loose and let go, though she often wanted too, She had seen her good friend be lost and a hole world be sucked into nothingness, for that exact reason.

The fairy thought back to a few days earlier, the day she had come to take the other little baby girl away from her mother. The young mother had tried to hide her feelings but the fairy could easily see the despair and sorrow in her eyes. The King and father of the young mother had sternly looked at his daughter and said too her "Its for the best Eva. The reputation of our kingdom cannot fall on an illegitimate child. The good Fairy Godmother will find a suitable place for the child" And the King had looked at the fairy and asked again if they could count on her discretion and confidentiality. Offcourse they could, she had told the King, but she had not told him her reasons nor did he ask them of her. All the King and the Royal family had wanted at this point was for this whole misère that their young daughter had been culprit off, too be over, done with and forgotten about.

The fairy had tried to console the young princess again she had taken her hand and told her she would take her baby girl and give her to a kind and loving family. "The world is more full of weeping then we can understand my child, but your baby will be safe, I will make sure of it"- Then she had taken the little baby in her hands and hurried away so as not to drag on the heartwrenching moment for too long.

When she reached the outskirts of the forest that she had agreed to meet in for the exchange of the babies, she had paused for a moment. Looking down at the little girls face, as she slept so peacefully "You are a pretty little thing aren't you. So innocent.. your fate hold so much power to change things.. and you don't even know it.. Im sorry it has to be this way" as she looked at the sleeping girl, the baby suddenly opened her big brown eyes and looked at the fairy. The fairy was startled at how aware the little girl looked. Maybe the girl did know, maybe she already blamed the fairy for what she was doing to her, stealing her life away..

But it had to be done. Or they would all be lost.

The fairy walked to the agreed meeting place and waited. Thankfully the little girl had fallen asleep again, she could not have held all of her tears back if she had had to look into those brown eyes for much longer.

Finally the fairy heard someone approach. It was him.

"Goodday to you Rumplestiltzkin" she said- "Same to you Dearie" said the man approaching her. He had an odd complexion to him almost like he shun a bit with golden dust. In his right hand he carried a basket, it looked like one of those big baskets you might use when you go apple picking. But there were no apples in it. Instead there was a little baby lying there wrapped in a white blanket, all the fairy could see of the baby was her red hair sticking out from above the white edge of the blanket. But then as she got near she could all of a sudden also hear the red-headed girl very loudly as she started screaming her little heart out. And a couple of seconds later the girl the fairy held in her arms joined in the lovely ear-wrenching choir. The Golden man growled something under his breath and took out a small flask with some brown liquid in it and gave both babies a little sip- they both went quite "There thats better" he said "much more soothing for our ears and for your dreams my little dears" "You didn't have to use a potion on the girls Rumple. They are just babies, babies cries sometimes" she said to him "I didn't dearest Blue, I merely gave them a little drink of rum, no baby ever complained of that"

Blue fairy handed the baby in her arms to Rumplestilzkin and then picked up the other baby. As The Golden Man, put the girl down to sleep in the apple basket. She took one last glance at the brown eyed girl she had not long ago taken from the mother. She knew what would become of the little girl in the apple basket, now that Rumplestilzkin was going to place her with the redheaded girls parents- Lord Henry and Lady Cora in the other Kingdom. At least the girl would be with her real father… but no one would know that she was born in this Kingdom or who she was, untill many years later when they were supposed to know. And the redheaded girl in Blues own arms, were going to the land that lay beyond the big river 'The Waters of the Wild' this was the name of the river boardering the land of Oz. That was this childs destiny. Everything was as it should be. But still, in this moment, those screams from the mouths of babes, felt like they could have come from Blues very own heart.


	2. Chapter 3: A crown is a heavy thing

Chapter 3:

**A crown is a heavy thing**

Queen Eva sat in her sowing room, mending her little baby daughters dress. She was singing a lullaby to the little girl who laid in her crib near bye babbling along to her mothers song. King Leopold Evas husband would not be home from hunting until later in the evening so she had lots of time to spend just her and her little girl. Eva did not like leaving her little girl even when she was asleep. That morning her husband had asked her to take care of some paperwork regarding business they had with their neighboring Kingdom, she was gratefull that Leopold was so trusting of her and let her in on the running of the Kingdom, and they both knew she was good at it. A crown was a heavy thing, they both knew that all too well, but they shared the heavy load and together they were strong. Not many King husbands let their wives do business for them. Leopold did. he was a good man and Eva loved him very much, she was grateful for him and for everything he had done for her. About 10 years ago before they were married Eva had disgraced her Royal family, her father the King of another land not far from where she lived now, he had been very angry with her, she would never forget the hurt in his eyes the day she had had to tell her parents that dreadful secret that could not be hidden any longer. And she thought he would never forgive her, she thought she would have to live with everyone knowing she had sinned. As a disgraced woman, never married, always stuck- because of one little mistake. But Leo had come along, like a night in shinning armor and swept her off her feet. Though she had had to be honest too him and tell him everything, because the subjects working in her fathers castle knew and secrets travel fast among the lower class, she had also then learned how it is always a wise thing to keep the lower class people on your side. But she had revealed her deepest secret to Prince Leopold and much to Evas surprise he had been very kind about it, asked her how she was now and she had cried in his arms, before she even knew how it had all happened Leopold had asked her to marry him and her father, much more lighthearted now that he had found a place to put his daughter and owaded a scandal, had given them all of his most sincere blessings.. Yes Eva had lots to be thankful for and lots to give back and she knew she had that paperwork to take care of but just for now she had an exuse just sitting here sowing, mending the dress and singing to the baby, the matters of the Kingdom that needed tending would have too wait. Leo often told her she was being too worried with the baby.

Eva stuck the needle through the white fabric of the small girls dress, she pricked her finger. Startled by the sharp pain she stood up and held her finger towards the sunlight by the window. The blood fell on the last snow of Winter in the windowsill and created little specks that looked like Roses, She looked at her baby girl laying in her crib "I want too tell you a secret my sweet Snow. You have a sister. Her name is Rose. But she doesn't live with us..She had to go live with some other parents. I know, it sounds odd but that was for the best..but we will always love her right?. .My Sweet child" She looked at her daughter with a small smile on her lips. That was the only time she ever spoke to Snow of her sister Rose.


	3. Chapter 4: Picking the reddest apple

Chapter 4:

**Picking the reddest apple**

A girl of about 9 sits in an apple tree. By the first glance at her you would think she was a very happy child, She has kind big brown eyes and her long almost black curly locks of hair flyes about in the gentle breezy wind, she smiles red cheeked as she climbs higher. She loves climbing her tree, this is her tree. Her father said it was planted here when she was born and it grows strong, its already much higher then all the older trees around it. She wants to reach the reddest apple the one on the very top branch. But suddenly she looses her grip, falls and rips her leg and her dress. She tries not to cry even though the cut on her leg is deep and it stings. The girl walks back to her Lord Fathers mansion with a heavy heart for she knows what her mother will think of this.

Her mother scolds her "Regina you really cant act this way girl, what is the matter with you? don't be such a useless pestilence" Her mother Cora makes her take her dress of, she want to send it away to get mended. Cora looks at her daughter with exasperation on her face, sighs and tells the girl to go to her room. Regina does as she is told, she didn't want to make her mother angry and she didn't mean to ruin her dress, but she knows there is really no point in trying to explain herself to her mother. Up in her room Regina sits down on her bed picks up a cloth to wipe the blood of her leg, as she sits she starts to imagine and dream something she often does, always ending up with the same picture in her mind of a kind lady with dark brown hair and with a cream colored dress with red roses on. She imagines that the lady is her mother and that she is back in her apple tree, as she falls her mother catches her and helps her climb back up to get the apple.

Her father Lord Henry later lets her out, but as he and her mother argues Regina sits on the stairs and listens to her mothers harsh words "There is something wrong with her.. she is not at all like me when I was a child.. she is supposed to be a lady" "But Cora, we must love her for who she is, she is our daughter" "Shut up.. you are so weak Henry you always let her of the hook. And don't speak to me of love it makes you sound so weak... the girl needs to learn manners.. she is going to be Queen when she grows up.. This girl is not what I wanted for a child, she is like a boy sometimes, she needs too learn Henry. And you, you are always so pathetic why don't you doo something… instead of just standing there"- Regina runs to her room and sits in the window sill. She feels sick like her stomach aches, maybe she is hungry? no, it feels like she has a hole inside, but she knows that it feels like that everytime her mother speaks to her father about her. She opens the window and looks over at the apple tree. The wind is colder now, she wonders if they might soon get snow.


	4. Chapter 5: A wicked little girl

**A Wicked little girl**

On an oak wood porch far away the Fairywoman Mombi scolled the young girl Ozma for not cleaning up proper on the porch to Mombi's house, she had told the girl to make sure all the wet sloppy snow was of by the time Mombi got back from the marked. Mombi yelled at the small thin redheaded scruffy looking thing, called her a Wicked girl, ugly and useless. "Ozma you listen to me now girl this is the way to do it it's a simple spell, by Medusas beard! why is it so hard for you to do" And as Mombi flicked her long branch like fingers the snow melted away. Mombi approached the girl and looked at her, her old bad eyes did not see well enough to see the spitefulness in the girls shimmering blue eyes. The girl knew what was coming but she stood still and as tall as her little 9year old high body would allow her too. " I try and try Ozma, once again magic is not hard" The Witch said as she lifted her huge wrinkled hand and swung it across the girls face in an ear-ringing slap. "You really need to learn child, it's not hard at all" the old witch sighed and walked away

Ozma held back the tears that the singing slap had provoked in her eyes and ran up the stairs to the little attic where her bed stood, the girl punched the sheets and pillow, she buried her little fists deep into the thin madress, she felt the hard wood underneath.. it hurt her hands. "Damn that Wicked old Witch! what was she to tell her anything just because she was old and she was a fairy she wasn't better than her".. Ozma hated that Witch. She looked in the small mirror hanging on the wall, she had red streaks across her face from the fairies long hard fingers. Ozma looked into her own icyblue eyes.. eyes that shun full of hate "Why did my mother give me away to live with this Wicked woman, why couldn't she have kept me?" Ozma thought.. "She kept my sister didn't she? I hate Mombi and I hate my real mother too. That other fairy that brought me here, told Mombi my sister was going to be Queen but that it should really be me.. I should be the Queen.. if my mother had kept me I would have been a Princess now. Maybe I would live in a big castle with a soft big bed and all the prettiest dresses I ever wanted." Ozma fell deep into her own dreams as she sat there infront of her little mirror "Oh mirror" she said out loud though no one, not the mirror for sure, would hear her. But the girl didn't care, she spoke to her own image in the mirror looking back at her. "Oh mirror, when I grow up I promise you, I will be Queen and I will be the fairest Queen of all. And no one, no deserting Mother or that Morbid Mombi will ever stop me"


	5. Chapter 6: A blue shine to a bright star

**A blue shine to a bright star. Or, A Mirror chapter**

What a fairy fears the most is to lose control. There are so many ends that must meet. Too keep everything in its rightful place is a hard job, it is always the head fairies job and soon it would be hers. The world is like an intricate woven blanket, every thread has a meaning a color that is needed in the right place to create a bigger picture, the thread does not know of its own fate or what meaning it has in the big picture, but the woman that weaves she knows and she knows if she loses that one thread she will mess up the whole blanket.

It was a very clear bright evening. Many years before all of the things we have heard in this story ever happened. Before most people had ever considered that there might one day be a Queen named Eva or two girls with the names Ozma and Regina, most people didn't consider them, most human people that is.

The evening air flowed coolly through the open window. The dark of the night was slow to come with these clear skies. But the first few stars were visible high above. A Lady in her tower window gazed at the brightest one and her grip on her pencil loosened, as her mind wandered far back in time. To better times, or maybe just easier ones.

Blue had off course not always been Blue. You see, a fairy must earn her colors. Once she had been the Yellow fairy that was after her first communion. Off course before that, she had been a White fairy like all fairies are in their beginnings. But as Yellow, she had led a carefree life tending to the happiness of people and binding happy endings together where ever she could, that was her job then as a fairy. Busy bees they were her and her fellow fairies. There were always lots of knots to untie and endings to tie with other endings, but she was always happy with her work. One day Yellow met a fairy from another world. That fairy had flown in to do business with the head fairy of Yellows world and Yellow had met her by coincidence, she was one of the hot shots. Off course Yellow had been able to tell by her color, she was a Blue. Perhaps she was even head fairy in the world she came from. The Blue Fairy had flown up too Yellow and asked her if she knew a good flower too sleep in for the night, since she was not going back to her own land until a couple of days later. And Yellow had boldly asked her to join her in her flower. The Blue fairy had accepted. They had had fun together, drinking a couple of bottles of Nectar and the Blue fairy had had too much, so she was kind of tipsy and had revealed the real reason she was there, she had been summoned by the fairy court to a hearing regarding the way she handled the government of her own world. "The fairy court is worried Im too loose with the laws and that I let too many things go flying free in the wind. But Fate doesn't always know Yellow.. sometimes.. I think Fate is wrong, just wrong.. they are happier when they can choose for themselves Yellow" Yellow had not known exactly what Blue fairy was talking about that night and she had been grateful when Blue fairy had fallen asleep so she herself could get some rest from all that talk of Fate.

There was a bluish shine about the trees and the ground outside this evening. "The blue hour" she had heard it named. Many names and melancholic songs were written that fitted this night and indeed her mood too. Blue looks at the black water surface of the little pond outside her window. When she was a white fairy she had always enjoyed swimming in the ponds with her friends. she had found it fun to dip her chin and nose just below the surface so she could see both above and under the water at the same time, and if she did it just right she would also be able to see the sky and her own eyes and face be reflected in the water, like a mirror on water reflecting the opposite, this way it was like seeing the whole world at the glimpse of an eye, she had thought. She looked at the black pond now from her window in the tower and wondered what was underneath the black mirror surface reflecting nothing. Blue caught herself and tried to put her mind back on her work. She had no time for her white girl-dreams now, no time for sports or play. This lady, she must now steadily weave her work. A good fairy she was. But she felt her mind wander back in time again though this time only too a few years earlier.

Yellow had earned a new color and could now call herself Blue. She was not head fairy yet, but worked closely together with Old Blue Fairy. One day the old head fairy would be retiring and there by handing over the responsibility of this world to Blue. When working in the government of a world a fairy can call herself a Star, because she works high up, and usually a Star takes to the skies to do business. There had been talk in Blues world of one of the other worlds having a dying Star.. When a Star is dying you see its light turn into an intense small white mass, when all the used or lost magic energy collects itself again. Until it releases, expands and blows up.. Then it sucks itself and everything surrounding it into a forever sucking, forever yearning, asking, black nothing.. a hole that can never be filled. Blue knew, that the dying world they talked about was her old friend's and that her friend was that dying Star, Her friend had used up all the magic of that world in a desperate attempt to keep the ends meeting. Blue had thought to herself how her friend, the Blue Fairy from the other world, should not have let go of the tight grip on all of her threads.. then she would have been safe and not have become disgraced in death with the name- a Black fairy.

A fairy needs to hold the control. Blue thought of Old Blue Fairy, the fairy Godmothers words to her this morning before they began the day's work. "A fairy must be everywhere my child, from within the smallest flower to the big universe surrounding us. We must sit in every flower bed and have our eyes among the stars to remain in control. Fate is written in the stars my child. We must be the ones to read it, to make sure it all happens in the right way. It is like a recipe. Fate is the artist, we are the weavers, the world will grow cold if we do not do our job right" If a fairy gives the control up for the mortals too choose their own fate, chaos will insure. Her long dead friend was evidence of that. Blue knew, that now that she was the one weaving the threads together, she was the one with the control. She tightened her grip on the pencil and held it steady over the paper pages of a big brown book she was writing in. "It is written in the stars" she told herself as she put down the words of her tale. A fairies tale, of a little baby girl that one day far from now would be born to save everyone in this world and help Blue carry them all into the next.


	6. Chapter 7: I am 15

I would sure enjoy if someone would comment and critique :)

...

**I am 15**

On the day the girl Ozma turned 15 she had a visit from a fairy. Ozma didn't know it was her birthday or how old she was, but the fairy had told her and then she had given her a gift. A Small book with spells written in it. Ozma had never learned to read, but the fairy said she would have lots of time to learn. The fairy had pointed out one special spell in the book from which she was not to read the words out loud until one night in the future when she would receive a sign from the fairy. Ozma should then travel to the shores of the Waters of the Wild river, and there by speaking the spell out loud she would be able to cross the river and return to the land she came from. But first she needed to learn to read and she needed to learn how to use magic. The Pretty looking fairy had even given her a lesson on magic. One that Ozma had actually gotten something out of, not like those lessons Mombi usually taught her. The fairy had shown her how to direct her feelings and concentrate on a cup of water until she managed to knock it over and spill the water on the ground, only using her thoughts "Magic is a feeling, find your motivation and its power will ease through you like a knife eases through soft butter" the fairy had said. Later Morbid Mombi the Hag, Ozmas beneficiary returned home and reluctantly invited the pretty fairy in for a cup of coffee. Inside the house the pretty fairy had told them all about the wonderful land she came from, how beautiful it was and how she couldn't wait for Ozma to see it "It's your destiny Ozma, too be Queen there. With the help of our magic we will see to it that everything happens the way Fate fortold it" .. Mombi let out a smuffled laugh and said "That's a fools talk Blue.. where did you gather that? Should Your Magic be a means to make that girls destiny? Dear old Fate, a slave to Magic.. hehehh! By Medusas beard! And here I was taking you for a smart one" Ozma saw the wicked smirk on the old woman wrinkled face, and the pretty fairy next to her looked perplexed as she sat down her cup with the oily black liquid. She didn't take any more sips, Ozma wasn't surprised.

The next day Ozma was once again alone with the old hag in that wretched tiny wooden hut. Ozma had started the fire in the small kitchen oven. As she watched the flames grow stronger she thought of how sweet it might feel if she could push that Witch in there as easily as she did the wood logs. Roasted Witch.. in her imagination that smell was a lovely one, not that different from what these old logs smelled like now. After she had done her chores she was fast out the door before the Witch awoke. Ozma went to her secret place in the woods, it was her very own place, somewhere no one besides her and a few forest creatures ever came. She liked being alone she was used to it. The kids in the nearby village had never been her friends they had always looked at her weird, like she was a freak or something. But Ozma didn't care for those kids, they were nothing. She knew what she was and what she was going to be. One day she would get what was rightfully hers and those kids could all drown down here in their own shit and village mud. Ozma climbed up the rocky mountain side, she placed her hands and feet carefully and with skill from having done this many times and also fallen many times. She knew the dangerous places where the rocks were loose, she reached a small ledge just above the tree tops. This was her spot, were she could see far away to the outskirts of Oz, in mornings with clear weather when the sun was just about to get high in the sky she could sometimes be so lucky as to catch a flicker of golden light as the sunshine hit the waters of the Wild river. Beyond that was her land. But this morning the sky was too clouded for that. Ozma thought again about what that pretty fairy had told her last night and she took out the little book from her pocket that the fairy had given her. She opened it to a page that the fairy had shown her and remembered the fairies words "This one is a straight up strong spell"- Ozma wondered what it ment that a spell was straight up. She could hardly wait to try this one. And the fairy had told her about her sister.. Ozma had sometimes wondered what her sister would be like and why she was back there in the castle as a princess while Ozma had to live here in this stupid little land. Now she knew the answer, her sisters name was Regina, which ment Queen or Ruler. Hah! That was a joke! It was not her name, it should have been Ozma's name. The fairy had said that when Regina was born their mother and father had thougt better of their new child than of Ozma, and that was why they had gotten rid of her and told the fairy to place her in Oz with Mombi , far away from their land so that no one would ever find her and she would never be able to get back "That's what they think.. dumb asses!"- Ozma spat out the words to a squirrel looking at her perplexed from a tree near her..It was all because Ozma had been born out of wedlock. They called it that because Ozma was born before her father the King had married her Mother, the pretty fairy had explained. and because her family was Royal, something like that was very much frowned upon. But the fairy had told Ozma that it didn't change the fact that the Throne and title of Queen Ruler of the land, really belonged to Ozma, as she was the firstborn. It was all her sisters fault.. if she had not been born her parents would have had to have kept her. If she had only been an only child, then they would have needed her to be their Princess- regardless of all the frowning. Typical.. Ozma thought, it sounds just like something those village kids would frown about, were Royal people no different? Well when she would be Queen she would teach them all something different.."Infact" -Ozma said to the squirrel "I am 15 now, and I am no child any longer. One day soon when I get powers and when I take back my Castle, I will throw that sister of mine over here to Oz so she can try being Mombis slave, and then we will see how she likes it"


	7. Chapter 8: Regina

**Regina**

Dear Diary-

Mother just saw me cry. I didn't know she was standing at the door, but she saw me and she looked at me like I was something so ugly to her. But she doesn't like it when people cry, I know. But I couldn't help it when she said I looked like a dumb wallflower at yesterday's ball, I just felt so sad. Why does she say these things to me? I don't understand why she seems so angry at me all the time.. or not angry even, it's just like she doesn't care, like all I am to her is something like a doll she can parade around. She doesn't understand me.. I didn't want to dance with that stupid Prince Joaquin anyway.. Diary, I love my Mother, I really really do.. but I don't think she loves me, not very much. She says I'm not like her when she was young and that I'm weak just like Father. She is right. I'm not strong like she is. I'm strong like a boy though, and Father says I'm good at riding. I can ride really fast. But she doesn't like that. She wants me to be strong in a lady like way and hard like she is. She always has to remind me I am going to be Queen one day. I don't know why she even thinks she knows that. First, I would have to marry a Prince.. and who says I will ever want to. I only know one Prince who is my age, he is that Joaquin from the ball, and he is a stuck up.

Oh I have to tell you this too Diary. Earlier this morning I met a strange old woman who insisted I should have one of her apples. Off course I ended up accepting it, it seemed like the most polite thing to do, but I threw the apple away to the side of the road once I couldn't see her any longer. She was very strange. There was something about her eyes.. but I don't know-

Anyway from now on today is going to be a good day. I'm having a riding lesson. And my fathers new stable boy is going to have Rocinante ready in an hour..I think his name is David or something. He seems very nice and Diary please don't tell anybody I write this, but he is very handsome too. Thank you for making me feel better Diary you are my very own secret place.

Regina hurried to change in to her riding clothes. She was a little late when she got to the stables and her riding teacher hurried her along out to the fields. She thanked the stable boy for getting Rocinante ready, but immediately felt guilty for thanking him. Her Mother had told her many times not to thank the help unnecessarily. But when the Boy smiled at her and said that Rocinante was a very beautiful horse, she smiled back at him and thanked him for that too.

Out on the fields she climbed up on Roci's back. The teacher was on his horse next to her and they started down towards the river. As they came down to the place where the hill steepened, Regina felt Roci increase his speed, and she went with it.. Down the hill they flew together like the wind. She heard her teacher yell at her to be careful.. that it was dangerous. But Regina didn't mind this kind of danger it made her feel alive and she trusted her beloved horse as she knew Rocinante trusted his rider. Up here, on a horse's back, Regina never felt afraid. This was the only thing she knew she was good at. And as long as she rode fast enough her mothers scolding words could not touch her. She could feel like she was free, for a moment.


	8. Chapter 9:The Golden Man

**The Golden Man**

An old looking woman sits on a wheel barrel on the side of the Kingsroad. She is cloaked in a hooded shawl with a deep darkred color to it. With the hood pulled over her head you can just glimpse some of her snowy white hairs sticking out from the sides. The woman lifts of the hood and lets it fall down on her shoulders the better to see down towards the place where the road bends behind the forest trees. As the woman sits there, she takes her memory back to certain pivotal events of a lifetime.

Taking Coras baby and replacing it with the girl, had not been difficult, he may even have preferred it to have been just a bit more challenging. He would welcome a good challenge during these long years of waiting. He had off course made it less challenging himself, so who was he to blame now, he thought. As he always did, he had made sure the contract which he had made with Cora prior to the birth of her first born, had its inbuilt fail safes, as he was accustomed to writing them into contracts. He had learned many years ago that you can never be too careful with these kinds of things. When it comes to magic you must always have a backdoor. And so as Rumple had known he wasn't going to "have" the baby, but only move the baby and put it in another womans hands- he still abided to the magical rules within the contract.

What happened to the girl child after the change? Well that was not his doing and not for him to take the consequences of. But he did enjoy thinking about what it would mean to Cora, when she learned what had happened to her real daughter. She should not have two-timed back then. He did not enjoy being made a fool of.. so this revenge would be a sweet one. One day he was going to enjoy seeing that womans face, when she learned that the girl she thought was her daughter, was in actual a brood parasite. And to make matters worse, she was Coras very own hated enemy Evas child. And had grown up in Coras nest and with Coras help taken the place and throne as Queen.. that very throne, which Cora had so viciously used her whole life trying to put her own daughter in to. Instead her real offspring was as sick with jealousy, as well as poor- as Cora herself had ever been. Putting a brown eyed girl in the place of a blue eyed one was not hard either. Though they were halfsisters and shared the same father, they had by far resembled each other. But a shapeshifter spell with the affect wearing of slowly, took care of that problem easily.. Yes, it had been foretold, and so it had happened. That was always the way of things, Rumple knew. Though it was not always so easy or without complicated mistakes to read what was told of the future, he thought he had become quite good at reading between the lines. As he knew that this young girl would be turning that corner from behind those trees any moment, he also knew what a deliciously tasty course she was going to be in the future. But today was just a beginning, a little fun. So today, disguised as an old woman carrying a wheel barrel of apples, being particularly pleased with himself over that analogy, he waited in anticipation for that young girl. Not for any particular reason, just to see what she looked like now and to have a little laugh. Those are so rare these long years he spends just waiting for time to pass.

He sees a figure walking up the road towards him. 15 years it had been since last he saw that girl "Goodday dear child. Where does the road lead such a youthful beauty this morning?" the older woman greets the girl in a sweet voice- "Goodday to you to good mother" the young girl smiles "I'm on my way to visit my Grandmother the Queen Mother in her castle just beyond the forest. I'm bringing her some medicine from my Mother" –"Oh isn't that lovely what a thoughtfull young soul you are dearie! Your grandmother, may the Gods bless her heart, is she sick?" Rumple asks the girl with the best compassioned voice he can pull of- "Oh thank you, but It's just a falls cold she has. Mothers remedy potion will fast cure that"- "Aah!.. is that so dear.. well I'm glad. And I see you've picked her some of the fine flowers from the forest. Aren't you a sweetheart. But such a kindhearted girl should also think to bring her Granny a sweet treat. Look here now, how about one of these fine red apples from my orchard, freshly picked this morning Dearie!" - "Thank you. But we already have lots of apples" the girl answers politely and makes a move to start walking on her way again, but the old woman holds up her big hand, to show that she has more to say to the girl- "Yes off course you would have and the Queen Mother non the less I'm sure, but these are very special ones..tasty.. take one, here you go! Free of charge. Eat it yourself while you're on your way" The woman holds out a red delicious looking apple, offering it to the young girl.

The girl looks into Rumples eyes. A moment- he almost feels as if she sees him.. he hadn't anticipated feeling caught. But he fights the urge to look away and then the moment passes -"Umm!..You're very kind... Thank you good mother" the girl says and takes the apple. She says goodbye and hurries on. Rumple smirks to himself -"An apple a day keeps the doctor away" He snaps his fingers and the shapeshifter spell wears of. Rumple is back to his old self.

A golden man in a snakeskin suit, stands at the Kingsroad, thinking to himself "It was worth it. A simple shapeshifter spell doesn't have a big price, and a laugh a day keeps bordom at bay" Now he just had a few more years left before the really fun shaping could begin.


	9. Chapter 10:What happened to the girl?

**What happened to the girl ?**

Ozma locks the door to the hut, she takes out a little flask from her pocket and pours a shining golden liquid all around the small hut. Inside the Witch is still sleeping. Ozma lights a firerock and holds it down to the golden liquid on the ground, it starts burning, soon it burns all around the hut and the wooden walls catches fire. She watches for a while and sees the yellow flames engulf her childhood home. She steps away, picks up her ((Pose duffelbag)) and walks down the path between the trees.

A couple of days later she reaches the rivers edge. There is a deadlike silence about the place and now that Ozma stands this close to the water it does not look as inviting as it did in the golden light she is used to seeing it in from far away. Instead it is black and still.. "Not so Wild today are we?" She asks out loud. Ozma pulls out her little book with spells and opens it to the page with the spell the fairy had pointed out to her. She reads it through in her head a couple of times before placing the book on a rock to get everything else ready that she needs for preforming the magic. Finally she is ready. Ozma picks up the book looks at the words and reads them out loud "Hear us cursed land of Oz. Where no one enters as no one leaves. Mirror Water Water Mirror. Let this one pass oh Others hear Her. Keepers keep Us. Let me pass" Ozma raises her eyes a little wearily, to look out on the water, nothing seems any different from a second ago, she pauses for a bit but then steps out from the shore and in to the shallow water, still nothing, she starts to walk across, her eyes fixed on the shore of the other side. When the water starts to get deep she stops for a bit to put the book in the ((duffelbag)) and she starts to swim across the river. Suddenly it feels as if her body is numbed, her movements stiffens she cannot move her arms and legs enough to stay above the water and her head sinks below the surface. Ozma tries to think.. if she can just keep her thoughts straight.. What in Medusas name just happened?.. What should she do? She needs air, just to breathe.. she panics. Though her body is now fully numbed, her mind races like wild-

The Water is black.. Ozma sees nothing.. then she feels nothing.

When Ozma awakes she is back on the shore, in the same spot she just took the first step from a couple of minutes ago. She opens her eyes and sees the blue sky. Her body feels like it's on fire and she thinks perhaps an army of a thousand ants is crawling about under her skin, they crawl inside her head and out her eyes, where they turn into little black dots on the blue sky. She needs to move and discovers she is not numb anymore. As she sits up, she puts her hand to her head, hoping to ease its throbbing pain, that's when she discovers another thing, something very peculiar, the skin on her hand and arm is completely and quite undeniably green, as green as was it the skin of a lime fruit.

Last we met her, Regina was just a girl, now she is a young woman of almost 18 years. She stands at a rivers edge waiting. Anyone that saw her now would say she was a beautiful young woman, full of life and strong looking. She has a certain kindness and deep thoughtfulness to her warm brown eyes. Anyone that saw her now would smile at her and tell her she had a lot to look forward to, with her whole life laying ahead of her just one step away… While she waits Regina holds a willow branch in her hand and twirls it around in the clear water, she can see a small fish underneath the surface. The silvery fish blinks in the light from the sun. Normally a fish would swim away from a twirling stick in its waters, but this one seems curious and trusting as it playfully swims around the willow branch. As Regina stands there waiting, she thinks about what happened earlier that day with her mother "Don't think that you are free to do what you want Regina, there are certain rules we must all abide to, you are my daughter , and so you must abide to my rules, remember I do this because I love you…" Sometimes with her mother she would feel like she was being suffocated. She needed air, just to breathe again. When her mother used her magic on her, it felt as if layers of a thick black cloak was being wrapped around her until she couldn't move. Her mothers magic was not good magic and she hated it. Regina holds her hand to her cheek, it feels burning hot from her mothers hand. She wanders what will happen if her mother finds out she is gone. But she doesn't want to think of that now. Finally Regina hears someone approaching. It is him.

"Daniel" she calls out "Hey, you made it" says the young man as he emerges from the forest scrubs. As he reaches her, she takes his hand and pulls him in to an embrace, she tugs her face in close by his neck, she likes the way he smells a bit of sweat in the warm summer air. He pulls back a bit and looks her in the eyes "What's that?" he asks as he gently touches the red side of her face with his fingers. She looks down at the ground as she answers "Just Mother. It's okay.. it doesn't hurt" Daniel removes his hand "It's quite red though" he says, and nudges her chin back up so her eyes can meet his again "But is looks like a flower" he says with a small attentive smile "Come on, let's take a swim in the river. The water will feel good on it" he says and pulls her towards the waters edge "But …I don't have my bathing clothes" she says.. he smiles at her again "Don't worry we can use our small clothes" They both take of the outer layer of their clothes and lays it on a big rock near the waters edge. They walk in to the water from the sandy place of the shore. The water feels great. It is shallow at first, close to the shore, but as they get further out it deepens enough that they can sit in it with just their heads above water. Regina dips her face below the surface, the cool water feels nice and eases the burning of the red mark her mothers hand left. As she emerges she sees Daniel smiling at her. Together they swim, following the shore for a bit. Daniel dives under and tries to grab her feet, she laughs and swims faster. She hears the water splash when his head comes back up to the surface. Now she knows she is far enough away that he can't catch her, so she swirls around to see where he is at "I think I just saw a mermaid" he says smiling at her. She smiles back and with her hand splashes water towards him "Mermaids don't live in rivers silly, but maybe it was a nymph" she swims back towards him and because the water is a bit shallower there she stands up beside him. "Come on.. Let's swim to the other side, last one is a green frog" she says and jumps forward past him to get a head start "Hey wait you cheater" he laughs and swims after her.


	10. Chapter 11:Come away Oh Human Child

**Come away Oh human child**

To the waters of the wild, with a fairy hand in hand

Somewhere in a forest a Wicked Woman lives. Is she a woman or a Witch or perhaps a fairy? I don't know, maybe she really is just an old oak tree. She had taken care of the business with the child and now that that was over she was alone again. Her reward would soon come threefold. She knew the rules that Fate must abide to. She relished in the wickedness of this magic.. only in a land without it, a human child would be free to choose. These lands were no such lands. She sat on her porch and watched the ants on their path along the old oaks branches. One by One in a long line they followed each other.

And so they all live ever after. One after the other.


End file.
